Highway ideas for South Dakota, theoretically (Sioux Falls, Rapid City: tax, live, vs.)

[Chris19]

If money was not as big of an big issue, there are some highway ideas I have that may be good in improving transportation to outside of South Dakota and may strenthen our economy and opportunities if done right. Here are my ideas.

Have either US 81 four-laned from the Salem exit down to Yankton or have SD 50 four-laned to west of Tyndall and SD 37 up to Mitchell. Both ways, US 81 would be four-laned to Norfolk, NE, where it meets up with a four laned stretch that leads down to Kansas (with the exception of a 40 mile stretch north of I-80 that will get widened in the next 5 to 10 years) and there would be a four lane from Huron to Aberdeen and then to Jamestown, ND.

Extend the US 12 four lane west to Mobridge (which is currenly being pursued by local communities in that area) and extend the US 12 four-lane east to Minneapolis or have 212 four-laned from Watertown to Minneapolis.

Four-lane US 83 from Bismarck, ND (which is growing and could benefit along with Pierre, Mobridge, and other locales in SD) to Pierre and then extend that to North Platte, NE, where it improves access to Denver and points further west for those in Eastern SD and Kansas City Omaha and points further south and east for Western SD. The US 83 plan would work well in linking up with the US 12 idea.

Have US 14 as a 4-lane from Pierre to Huron, then on to Brookings and then have the four lane go to MN 23 up to Marshall and have the four lane make a path to Minneapolis.

Have a freeway that goes from Minneapolis and to Sioux Falls. From Sioux Falls, it goes through Lennox, Viborg, Irene, Yankton, Broken Bow, NE, and ends in North Platte, NE. This would improve access to Denver and points west for those in Eastern SD and others in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Final idea is to have a freeway or four lane comination that goes at a diagonal from Sioux Falls to Spencer, IA, Ft. Dodge, Des Moines, then to St. Louis. This would improve access to points east and south for all South Dakotans.

I know that these ideas are expensive and wishful thinking, but I wonder what others think of the ideas and whether these routes would enhance transporation and additional economic opportunities for South Dakota and its people.

[DannyBanany]

Those would all be great ideas for our economy. In western SoDak, there has been many pushes at building the "Heartland Expressway" from Denver to Regina, Saskatchewan. It would go right through Rapid City and the Black Hills region which is pretty isolated from any routes but I-90.

There are already 4 lanes from Rapid City to the Nebraska state line. Nebraska has some stretches of 4 lane highway adjoining it too, but they need to push it further. The highway would stretch from Canada to Mexico if the vision is completed.

Welcome to Heartland Expressway on the Web!

[awoods2]

Originally Posted by DannyBanany

There are already 4 lanes from Rapid City to the Nebraska state line. Nebraska has some stretches of 4 lane highway adjoining it too, but they need to push it further. The highway would stretch from Canada to Mexico if the vision is completed.

Welcome to Heartland Expressway on the Web!

It's four lane Rapid to Mavrick Jct. but SD is planing to go all the way to the border. Colorado is planing to four lane Ft. Morgan to the Nebraska line. Now if Nebraska would get move.. like that is going to happen.
Adam

[Thieroff]

I was reading something about Nebraska very recently and their troubles trying to finance a road system like the one you speak of.

It said that basically, Nebraska being a somewhat smaller state by population, has a hard time getting the money together to maintain its roads as of right now, let alone build new ones.

I'm sure at some point in time there will be development of it, but it does take time.

CT

[tpabes]

Yes, Nebraska is at a point where we will only be able to maintain the roads we have, the problem is we are getting less federal funds and our state needs alternative funding as the gas tax won't cut it anymore (we are not the only state by far with this problem). The governer has said he wants more money to roads, as we have a surplus in our state money, but there is many other projects Nebraska needs, and the pandhandle tends to take a back seat to Omaha and Lincoln, especially since they are widening I-80 between the cities. Nebraska has 4-laned from just north of Kimball to east of Scottsbluff, so they have completed some of there portion. Its good to hear about Colorado, I believe they are suppose to take it through Limon clear to the Springs, the idea being a alternate route to I-25 (which is smart). I wondered how important it would be to Colorado with the I-25 corridor booming and they have a big problem with what to do with I-70 west of Denver. My question to you is was this project that much of a priortiy for S.D or does the state have a terrific way of funding your roads?

[DannyBanany]

I'm pretty sure that SD is serious about the Heartland Expressway. Rapid City just opened the city bypass that connects I-90 to the Heartland Expressway the other year and it is already a very popular route for travelers. There has not been any lack of efforts in building it that I know of. SD is pretty adamant about it. Many people in Rapid City travel to Denver and the Front Range frequently (myself included) amd the completion of this project would cut the time in half. I hear that when completed it will get you from Rapid City to Denver in less than 4 hours.

It also gives relief to the congestion of I-25 around Denver and the Front Range. Traffic is more likely to go through Rapid City to connect to I-90 than through Wyoming. That would give major relief to I-25.

[tpabes]

I figured, South Dakota, Missouri and Iowa (as far as Nebraska's neighbors) seem to be pretty good at building expressway systems. It would be great for Nebraska too, I have heard that Scottsbluff has lost some transportation companies because Nebraska hasn't finished the bypass around Kimball, which is sad. It would help Alliance and Chadron also, and would be nice because alot of Nebraskan's like to come play in the Black Hills too! Too bad money is a problem because it would really benefit each state involved. Nebraska's other problem is that its major cities and majority of population is with a small area of the eastern part of the state, where as South Dakota has "anchors" on each end and in Colorado, it is close enough to the front range to be considered. The point being that road $ is going to go road projects where the majority of the population is and roads are needed. Ex. Kimball has been waiting for the bypass for something like 10 years, really sad that west of Lincoln gets forgot about and west of Kearney gets really forgot about and west of North Platte might as well be Wyoming's, but population talks.

[Chris19]

In response to Nebraska being slow on road building, I see that US 81 is all four lane south of York, NE and between Norfolk and Columbus, but is a two lane between Columbus and York and between Yankton and Norfolk.

I use the road often enough when I visit relatives in Colorado or going to Kansas/Oklahoma areas. I am familiar with the route. 81 can be a pain in the rear between Yankton and Norfolk when there is enough travel due to the hilly terrain and having very limited opportunities to pass and the traffic between the two cities. Four years ago, Going north on 81 (north of Norfolk, NE), I almost got into a head on collision with a car who was going south and passing another vehicle. If I did not hit the brakes, I may not have lived to write this post. If traffic gets heavier, the stretch will get scarier. A person can get behind a slow driver and plan on being behind him or her for quite awhile.

US 81 between York and Columbus will get 4-laned, I wish it would be soon. It would be an alternative to going to Grand Island on US 30, which is another route that should get widened due to a lot of cross and truck traffic.

Regading the Heartland Expressway, South Dakota is proactive and I am pleased at the progress being made to improve that stretch, but wish Nebraska would push harder to get funding to improve its stretch. It is sad to see Scottsbluff lose out on potential opportunities due to no bypass around Kimball.

[tpabes]

Chris I am not aware of any plans to widen 81 to Yankton, I believe they are looking more into looking into widening Ne 33 to Sioux City. You will probably see 81 get done between York and Columbus before Heartland. But like I said, everything is at at standstill, even I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha (widening to 3 lanes) is being pushed back a couple years from being complete because of lack of federal and state funds. What is South Dakotas main source for road money? It is really good to see South Dakota be so proactive, it will help with things like Sioux Falls growth and such.

On a side note: I like reading in the South Dakota section, you guys have a lot of great posters here. Good to know we have good neighbors to the north!

On another side note: If you a self proclaimed road nerd like me, you might like this site: Welcome to RockyMountainRoads.com - The Online Highway Guide for the Rocky Mountain States
It also links to interstate guide and other road sites. Lots of pics and interesting tidbits.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by tpabes

Chris I am not aware of any plans to widen 81 to Yankton, I believe they are looking more into looking into widening Ne 33 to Sioux City. You will probably see 81 get done between York and Columbus before Heartland. But like I said, everything is at at standstill, even I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha (widening to 3 lanes) is being pushed back a couple years from being complete because of lack of federal and state funds. What is South Dakotas main source for road money? It is really good to see South Dakota be so proactive, it will help with things like Sioux Falls growth and such.

On a side note: I like reading in the South Dakota section, you guys have a lot of great posters here. Good to know we have good neighbors to the north!

On another side note: If you a self proclaimed road nerd like me, you might like this site: Welcome to RockyMountainRoads.com - The Online Highway Guide for the Rocky Mountain States
It also links to interstate guide and other road sites. Lots of pics and interesting tidbits.

We have a gas tax, but I think that our congresspeople are agressive in getting road funding for the state and do not have as much of the competiting interests of Omaha/Lincoln vs. everyone else. Sioux Falls has the interstate highways and a couple of state highways. Some of our projects have been delayed like yours due to money for roads being tighter these days.